How to maintain energy level with GTD

03-31-2013, 09:05 AM

I'm a CEO of a company of 200+. I've read David's book and wanted to structure my days to make them more productive. I want to have more energy by the end of the day. Or at least to be not that tired Maybe I need a stop point not to make the day 24 hours work.

I would love any advice on:

1. How long should be the working day (4-Hour-Work Week) to maintain the energy?

2. How many meetings is the best to have to maintain the energy?

3. How many meetings David Allen execs have? Can you share a calendar view?

4. Should I block time for processing and unexpected meetings in the day?

I don't know if you can control how much energy you have throughout the day. Perhaps with more exercise you can increase it somewhat, but there is always a limit. The best way to deal with this is to recognize when you have the most energy and do your most important work during that time. I personally have the most energy in the morning. So I block off my calendar before 1 PM and tell people not to invite me to meetings then. I try to have all my meetings in the afternoon, which for me doesn't take as much energy and focus. In the morning I then do my highest intensity, highest focus work. For me this is writing code. For a CEO I'm not sure but probably something like thinking through the vision and strategy of the company.

Comment

Welcome to the discussion forum. Disclaimer: I'm not a GTD coach, just the IT guy, with a couple minutes to spare on the weekend...

I see from your post that you've read the book, but I'm not sure if you've started your implementation yet -- GTD is a systematic approach to Getting Things Done.

Looks like you have some immediate goals, that you can enter on your 30K foot Goals Sheet -- structure days more productively; have more energy by end of day.

I wish it were that simple - going into GTD with certain established formula answers to questions regarding how long the work day should be, quantity and length of meetings, etc.

Effective GTD practice requires a personal awareness of: context - where am I? (@work, @home, @phone, etc); energy (am I tired or not?); and time (how much time do I have to work on something?

Given the personal awareness of that triad, now comes the question, "What's the next Action?". The key, for me, is that if I don't have an effective system that is external to my mind, then (by observation) I've found a source of why I'm ineffective or exhausted. I'm ineffective or exhausted because I don't have an answer to that simple question, and my mind will take great joy in "thinking up a bunch of possible answers" and I won't be actually doing anything.

To answer your questions:

1. Measure how many hours are currently in your work day; implement GTD; and then create a goal that has that number minus a percentage that makes sense to you. The more you get things under control, the fewer your work hours may require. But... you may also have to adjust some of your vision or goals, because you maybe taking on too much in the first place and need to adjust.

2. DA would say that having a meeting for the sake of a meeting is a waste of time. I think the answer, for you, is relative to how many projects you can delegate to others so they have meetings you don't need to attend. I don't think the quantity is the measure, it's how much energy you are expending within the meeting -- if everything is "on your mind", which is the antithesis of GTD, then you'll be tired in the meeting, regardless of content.

3. As any company, we have our share of meetings -- both in quantity and focus. The difference is that, based on the collective agenda needs of the participants, the meeting is over either within 15 minutes or up to the allotted time (typically around 90 minutes). What we don't do is creatively make up a bunch of stuff to justify the meeting duration, regardless of agenda content. As a GTD practitioner, I live for "weird time", which is when I go back to my GTD binder and look at next actions (by context) that I can now attend to -- knowing I have 45 minutes of "unscheduled" time to work with -- oh joy!

4. Block time for processing -- definitely. Block time for unexpected meetings? - I don't think that would be possible. You'll find when GTD is fully implemented you'll address the ad hoc interruptions with aplomb. You'll know instantaneously how to address the interruption.

I'm a CEO of a company of 200+. I've read David's book and wanted to structure my days to make them more productive. I want to have more energy by the end of the day. Or at least to be not that tired Maybe I need a stop point not to make the day 24 hours work.

I would love any advice on:

1. How long should be the working day (4-Hour-Work Week) to maintain the energy?

2. How many meetings is the best to have to maintain the energy?

3. How many meetings David Allen execs have? Can you share a calendar view?

4. Should I block time for processing and unexpected meetings in the day?

Comment

You might also like to check out Tony Schwartz of The Energy Project. He and David have collaborated in the past, so you'll find some interesting links on Google.

Absolutely second Victoria's recommendation. I am an avid GTD'er but also have gone through The Energy Project and have found a way to incorporate my TEP rituals with GTD. In a previous role, we implemented TEP as a group of 50 and it was simply phenomenal the changes that happened in the group - our energy, focus and productivity went up ... with fewer hours in the office!

And it would be great to hear more about Tony Schwartz and David Allen collaborations. I think I heard an In Conversation (or something similar) once but do share if there's more content on this.

There's a good book out there called "The Willpower Instinct" by Kelly McGonigle. She talks about energy levels a lot. As a busy doc in a cancer hospital energy is a real interest for me; I sometimes sag around 3. Some ideas:
1. Take a 5 min outside walk in mid afternoon.
2. Take 5 min to close eyes, follow breath in/out/in/out (form of meditation)
3. Eat something healthy; sometimes it's low blood sugar.
4. Structure your life so that you use the precious decision making energy for things that matter; make the rest autopilot.
5. Experiment with schedule. I used to slavishly get up and exercise at 6, but that turns out to be a good time for me to make decisions and the afternoon is better for exercise IF I schedule it.
6 Speaking of exercise, I'm experimenting with high intensity interval training (HIT or HIIT). In many studies, doing either a high intensity bike workout (3 intervals of max effort for 20 seconds a few times a week) is just as effective as an hour a day. Google Mike Mosley, The Truth about Exercise http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cywtq or visit BodyByScience.net.

I also try to discipline myself to just leave at 5 whether I'm done or not. What I've found is that, first, I'm never done anyway! and second, I get more done with a deadline.